


Soulmates: Red String of Fate

by moricat



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Eremin - Freeform, Eremin Week, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Red String of Fate, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moricat/pseuds/moricat
Summary: In which Eren and Armin come to terms with their red strings of fate, in a soulmate AU wherein one can see the red string of fate connecting them to their soulmate whenever they close their eyes.A blurb I wrote really quick as an emergency entry for Day 3 of Eremin Season (Soulmates) since I didn’t get my Yin and Yang piece finished^^;Takes place in main!verse during training. Spoilers for recent manga updates I guess also? Oh well, enjoy if you can!





	

In this world, everyone is well aware of one phenomenon which is simply a coming-of-age right of passage: the red string of fate that leads to one’s soul mate. When one closes their eyes, the glowing red string appears against the black matte of nothingness. Titan paths might still be a mystery to these Eldian children yet, but at least one metaphysical, extradimensional path is common knowledge among the humans in this world and is as mundane as a sneeze or a sunrise.

Eren Yeager had one mission: _destroy all titans_. Thus he’d sworn a number of things to himself, including to sell his soul to the cause, offer up his whole body to the mission, dedicate his mind wholly to the task of training and slaughtering, and to never, EVER, under any circumstances, allow himself to fall in love... This meant NEVER following the long, tangled, throbbing, brightly glowing, red string of fate he saw whenever he closed his eyes. At first, swearing off love seemed like the easiest part, but the rest became increasingly difficult to follow through on... And more and more often Eren found himself crying quietly at night because all he wanted was for someone to hold him and tell him it would all be okay, because they'd love him no matter what... But at least he had Armin’s affectionate friendship to cheer him up, something that _only_ Armin could do... Eren’s heart sure beat kinda strangely when Armin was around him like that... and his voice was like a lullaby to his ear... and his eyes filled him with strength... and his hand fit so perfectly in his... but no matter! Eren had a good best friend and his loyal step sister. That’s all he needed and all he’d ever allow himself to have. His eyes stayed on his goal, _wide open_ , and focused, (no matter how lovely Armin looked out of the corner of his eye some days...).

Franz and Hannah were actually the healthiest cadets despite their easy distraction. For choosing to follow their strings to one another at such a young age, they had an endless cycle of love and support feeding into one another and nothing was too scary or difficult for them. They were a "power couple" in every sense of the term when all was said and done...

“OH, GAG ME!” Eren growled after a swig of water. He roughly bit into his bread loaf, playing up his annoyance at the gross love birds cuddling at the table in front of him, Mikasa, and Armin. “Do those two have no shame?!”

“Does it really bother you that much, Eren?” Armin asked meekly, rather in disbelief.

“Yes! It’s disgusting! Look at them! Any minute now they’re gonna start making out and moaning right there on the table.”

Mikasa refused to turn around, finding leering to be indecent, but raised an eyebrow for Eren’s overeager protest. “Eren... Do you like Hannah?”

“What?! Why?!” Eren inquired with genuine perplexity.

“She’s a pretty girl. All the other guys liked her until she started dating Franz. Don’t you?”

“No, I think she’s irritating and uh... uh... sack-a... What’s the word, Armin?”

“Hmm? Saccharine?”

“Yeah! I think Franz can do better. He’s a handsome guy capable of a lot of courage when he’s focused. Pretty chesty too. Good biceps... AHEM-- I can’t argue with "fate", but I’d be questioning whether there was a fluke in my string if it lead me to her.” Eren argued. He took another drink of water to cool down the blush firing in his cheeks.

Since she had no argument, Mikasa took his answer for granted and moved on.

But Armin had some somber questions of his own. “...Eren? What do you want in a mate?”

“--Hmm?” Eren turned to look Armin in the eye, afraid to blink lest that dreadful red string appear... And quickly sought out his usual lies on the subject. “I-- I told you, I don’t have one. I swore off love so there’s no helping it. I have no red string. So it doesn’t matter.”

Armin’s voice was very hushed, speaking in a tone he used with Eren in public places to keep things private between them in their code of intimate friendship. “But if you had your freedom already, and there were no titans, and you were safe to live life... What would you want?”

Eren’s throat went dry and he sipped his water again, finally breaking eye contact with Armin altogether. “I’d want... -- _a girl_ ,” he remembered to emphasize for the sake of his macho image, “who... is honest, brave, strong, and wise...” Realizing he’d just described someone in particular he was terrified to be close to, he quickly threw in a bunch of extra traits. “W-with a slender figure and raven hair! A-and boobs, cuz yanno... E-everyone loves boobs!”

Mikasa’s eyes widened and then shut tight to see her own red string that she could never follow. Its glow throbbed more and more when she’d enlisted in the army but, just as when she lived in Shiganshina, no matter how long she followed it and trailed it, she never got anywhere at all... She expected it to surely lead her to Eren, but Eren was always right there before her. And that long magical string of fate never seemed to reach him.

Armin nodded solemnly and sighed. He was beginning to wish he could just pull his red string right out of his soul and feel as detached as Eren seemed to feel on the whole matter. It seemed whoever that string lead to sure as hell wasn’t gonna be Eren, and for Armin, that was all too heartbreaking... “I’m going to bed...”

Eren finally faced him again, sad to hear him leaving. “So early? Dinner just started.”

“I don’t feel so great. I’ll try to sleep it off but if I can’t, I guess I’ll take a walk or something. Night.” He waved sadly and then walked away.

Eren felt a nag in his heart that was guiltily urging him to follow Armin, but as always, he ignored it as best he could.

With her eyes still closed as Jean entered the hall and casually passed by her, Mikasa saw a throb in the glow of her string. Her eyes opened again... She looked at the empty looking Eren across from her and finally just asked the brave question she was aching to know the answer to for so long... “Eren? Do you suppose... _I_ could be your soulmate?”

Eren cocked a disgusted eyebrow. He sure hoped not. “Finish your dinner, you need to eat.”

* * *

It was getting late and Eren stood on the porch of the mess hall, leaning against the railing, staring at nothing but the dirt on the ground, and trying not to think at all. Everyone had left the hall by then, turning into their barracks or wandering the camp grounds in the moonlight and the torch light for various and sundry things before bed... Eren sighed into the night air as that familiar lonely feeling creeped over him again. It made him feel heavy, sad, cold, and anxious. He clutched his sleeve in his tension and looked up to stare at the moon, as though the moon would give him an answer...

Then Franz and Hannah strolled by, hand in hand, and talking sweet.

Eren’s somber and bitter half lidded eyes fell to them as they chatted.

“Franz..." Hannah sighed "...You know, some nights, I used to feel really lonely. Even with people around me who loved me. None of them really knew me and it felt like no matter how close we were, in the end, I’d still be facing this big scary world alone... All alone...”

Eren’s spirited sank a little further... He knew that feeling well too...

“I’m so sorry, Hannah...” Franz’s sweet voice consoled. “I used to feel that way too. Until I met you.”

Eren raised an eyebrow but listened on.

Hannah grinned in a way that Eren was envious of. “I was just about to say that! You make me feel... like I can do anything because you’re right by my side! And I’m not alone anymore, ever. I’m so glad I met you. I’m so glad I took that leap of fate and followed that string to you. It was so scary but-”

“-it was worth it.” Franz concluded, finishing her sentence like it was something he’d been saying to himself every day. “Now I’m not afraid of anything. Nothing at all... because we have each other.”

Eren watched with conflicted emotions as the trainee corps sweethearts shared a sweet kiss in the moonlight... Kissing always looked so gross to Eren but this one was... so _lovely_. It was honest, it was a pact, it was a real culmination of 2 people’s care for one another physically expressed, so neither of them could deny it or forget it... Eren’s lips parted and his eyebrows knitted while he watched the couple embrace and then walk each other to the barracks...

* * *

Eren stared at the ceiling of the bunk above him thinking to himself... He lifted his empty hand into the air to look at it. It was lonely... Almost _aching_. He closed his eyes to see that long red string glowing and breathing slowly before him... much slower than usual. Was his soul mate hurting? Were they upset? If the string’s glow goes out... Does that mean their heart is broken? What if it disappears altogether? What if Eren is stuck feeling this way until his inevitable death in the Scouting Legion and his poor soul mate is left to suffer alone? He opened his eyes again and turned his head to find Armin but he wasn’t there... Eren sat up and debated something to himself... and after a moment, rose up out of bed with a look of determination on his face. He closed his eyes again, and finally, began to follow that red string right out the cabin door.

* * *

 

He opened his eyes now and then to check where he was going, gathering up the invisible string in his hands as he went, wrapping it around his arm as he picked it up. The string lead him out to the empty training grounds, which were warmly haunted by the stress of their grueling daily exercises. This must mean his soulmate is definitely here as a cadet with him... After this, it lead him around to the mess hall where they must’ve had dinner time together before. He gathered the tangly glowing string off the surface of various tables before following it outside again, in the path of the moonlight... His eyes closed again, wondering where it would lead next. Finding himself stopped by something, he opened his eyes again to see that he’d bumped into the bricks of the water well. A cluster of string was resting there, implying his soul mate must’ve come there quite often, he supposed. _‘Guess they probably come here to think. I hope they’re not too lonely...’_ he thought, never wishing sadness on people he cared about. He closed his eyes and gathered the string, following it around the medic’s cabin... It trailed off somewhere into the distance and Eren opened his eyes to see that it went through the forest. He closed them again and saw where the string had come out of the forest the way it went in, and gathered its loops up into his arm. He looked down at his arm to find the string clumps were getting smaller the more he walked... _‘I must be getting close...’_ he concluded...

Finally, the string lead to the fire pit and then stopped. A silhouetted figure sat, staring at the yellow flames, surrounded by darkness, all alone and slumped on the log... Eren gulped, closed his eyes, shutting them tight, and followed the trail of the faintly glowing string... He gathered what was left of it, and stopped right behind the person, never opening his eyes to see who it was... He heard the figure gasp and stand up to look at him...

But the figure never said a word. They stood still. Just staring...

Eren swallowed hard and finally parted his lips to speak. “Are... Are you my soul mate?”

The figure stayed quiet.

“Please tell me...” Eren muttered desperately.

Still no response.

Eren was fighting heartbreak. “I see... You probably recognize me, huh? Guess Eren Yeager isn’t exactly the ideal mate... I wanna be with you though. Whoever you are...” The sound of the figure’s uneasy breathing hit Eren’s ears... They sounded scared. What was this person so afraid of? Eren let the magical string fall from his arms, and he reached out nervously to touch whoever it was... They felt warm... Familiar... Soft... Like someone Eren wouldn’t mind holding close to him should they let him... Could it be...?

The mystery mate whispered voicelessly. “I’m scared... that-- you won’t like what you see when you open your eyes...”

Eren blushed as he moved his hand clumsily, but gently, up to rest it against the person’s warm soft cheek. He smiled, nervously but endearingly. “You definitely don’t have to be afraid of that...” The red string between them began to glow brightly again, throbbing even faster than it usually did. “I think I should be very lucky to have you...” He said, holding out his empty hand.

The frightened mystery mate took Eren’s hand in theirs. It was a perfect fit.

“I won’t let go. Don’t worry. I’m gonna open my eyes now.”

Eren's soulmate took a deep breath, clutching Eren’s hand tightly for courage, and finally whispered... “Okay.”

Eren opened his eyes. Standing there before him was an anxious, trembling, breathy, _beautiful_ , Armin Arlert... Tears pooled in his eyelids while his smile widened. _“Armin...”_

Armin's eyes widened, shimmering in the moonlight for Eren and welling up with overwhelming emotion. He finally smiled too.

Without another word, Eren quickly pulled the blond into an embrace, burying his head in his shoulder and stroking that golden hair he'd always admired with his quivering fingers.

Armin pressed his face into Eren's chest, letting the musky scent of that hardworking body fill his nose, and held him as tightly as his scrawny little arms could allow. _"I've been in love with you for so long..."_ he whimpered.

Eren pulled away at that to look at Armin again while he processed those words, along with the powerful, fluttering beat in his heart... and he finally realized something that he had been so afraid to admit: _he'd been in love with Armin too..._ A whole _new_  smile emerged over Eren's lips as he stared into Armin's sincere glowing eyes... He brought his face to Armin's, and began to lean in... slowly, but bravely... until their lips pressed together at last...

\--

There in the moonlight, under the stars, against the sound of nothing but the crickets and the fire's crackle, Eren found what he was really looking for all along. Everything felt so different... He felt stronger, braver, whole, loved, and for the first time since he befriended Armin at the age of 8, he truly felt like he wasn't alone. And now he knew that he never would be. Because no matter what, Armin would be there beside him until the very end. After taking that brave journey following the red string of fate that night, Eren made a new vow to himself as he stood there in Armin's warm arms holding him tight, with that entangled glowing red string surrounding them: _To never, EVER, leave Armin's side..._


End file.
